“Not exactly,” he said, replacing the dagger. “We were just about to leave. You surprised me is all.”
“We?” Eva peeked further into the building. Spinning in a swivel chair was a woman with six too many eyes and glossy black chitin in place of skin. “Ah. Hello Arachne.”
The spinning woman slammed one of her bare feet to the ground. Sharp claws that passed as her toes dug into the cement floor. She regarded Eva with all eight eyes. Slowly, a grin filled with pointed, interlocking teeth spread across her face.
In a single leap, she crossed the ten feet between her seat and the doorway Eva stood within. Eva made a quick step past the flying woman to her vacated chair. Turning, Eva found the woman had sprouted four additional spiny legs from her waist; all of them, and her arms, were wrapped around the spot Eva had just stepped out of.
“Aww, you don’t need to be so cold.” Arachne turned and put on the fakest pout Eva had ever seen. “We’re practically sisters now. Or you’re my daughter?” She shrugged.
“Arachne,” her master cut in, “we’re short on time. You can play your games when we get back.”
Eva crossed her arms and sent a glare at Devon. “You’re going on a job without telling me again?”
“It is just a small pick up. A smash and grab, as it were.”
“You wound up sick with the pale fester for weeks last time it was just a ‘quick pick up.’ Remember? We had to summon a bile demon to suck out all the puss.”
Eva’s master went a bit green, probably more at the demon than the illness. He said, “the last time you came on a job, you nearly had your leg detached.”
“Yes, well,” Eva kicked her right leg back and forth, “I’m fine now, aren’t I. Besides,” Eva said before her master could retort, “I’ve something urgent I need to speak with you about.”
Devon shook his head. He pulled his brown trench coat off a hook by the door and started out the door. “Fine,” he said, “but talk while we walk.”
Eva jumped to her feet and followed him out the door. “First,” she said, “this job. Anything I need to know to not get killed or horribly maimed?”
“Probably not,” Devon said, shaking his head, “the museum has a new tour going around. A missive from Death said that–”
“Oh, we’re dealing with Death now?” Eva interrupted with narrowed eyes. “The Great Corrupter and Endless Void not enough for you?”
Devon sighed and shot Eva an annoyed glare. “It isn’t like that. And I’m not exactly best friends with the other powers. Death is willing to grant a small boon in exchange for the destruction of a phylactery that is currently in our museum.”
Eva considered for a moment before asking, “I thought liches worshiped Death.”
“They generally do, mostly because they’re all fools. Death is patient and won’t bat an eye at you finding ways to extend your life a few hundred years.” Devon paused as he glanced up and down a crossing alley. Satisfied no one was around, he continued, “a phylactery on the other hand is basically an attempt to seal your soul from Death indefinitely. I think He takes it as a sort of slap in the face.
“He will use liches, but when an opportunity arises to destroy their soul jar. Well, that’s where people like us come in. This particular one has evaded him for some time, I believe.”
Eva frowned. “So we’re up against a lich tonight. Splendid.”
Devon shook his head. “Not if I understood Death correctly, always a challenge with his cryptic metaphors, but I think this lich had his body destroyed a long time ago and was unable to create a new one.”
“That’s good. No offense to Arachne’s prowess,” Eva said with a glance at the spider-woman draped over her shoulder, “but I’d have probably demanded we stop and summon up a succubus or two. Maybe a minotaur if you had any goat blood.”
Arachne ran a sharp finger down Eva’s cheek in an endearing manner, just lightly enough to make the touch known. “I’d tear your minotaur limb from limb.”
“I have no doubt of that,” Eva said with a smile, “but liches are known for their magical aptitude, having the longevity to master magics others couldn’t dream of. The minotaur’s magic resistant hide would, hopefully, give him the time to do some damage.”
Arachne gave a light huff and went back to leaning on Eva’s shoulder. Devon just looked to Eva with a raised eyebrow.
“What?” Eva glared back at her master. “You think I ask for all those books because they make my shelves look pretty? Just because I don’t know why Death wants all the liches dead doesn’t mean I don’t know what a lich is.”
“No, no,” her master smiled, “it’s just that we’re here.”
“Oh.” Eva looked around. The stone plaque for the Bellmont Museum of History sat just in front of their group. “Right,” Eva said, “so what’s your plan?”
“Well, I did say ‘smash and grab’ earlier.”
“Don’t these places have night security guards? We can put down a wide area sleep, step in, grab the phylactery, and step out.”
“That is essentially what I said.”
“What you said had significantly more instances of the word ‘smash’ in it.”
Devon shrugged. “Since this is your master plan we’re going with, I’ll let you do the honors of sleeping the property.”
Eva narrowed her eyes at her master. “I feel like I got tricked into this.”
“Nonsence. You’re just a much better planner than I.” He clapped his hands together. “Come on, chop chop. Don’t have all night; there might be others after Death’s boon.”
Eva grumbled under her breath as she withdrew chalk from her bag. She walked up and down the property, counting her paces each way. She stopped when she reached the stone plaque and set to work. A sloth rune, several pargon runes, length and width modifiers to match her paces, height was guessable as too high or too low wouldn’t matter, followed an exemption rune. She traced the exemption rune on the back of her hand with a pen and did the same for her master and Arachne.
She withdrew her dagger and sliced her finger open. Eva dropped a single droplet of blood on the runes on the back of their hands. Several drops of blood went to key points on the runic array.
“Blood?” her master asked.
Eva shrugged. “Faster than channeling magic into all of us.”
“If I fall asleep–”
Waving him off, Eva said, “Your hand runes barely take any power, the blood will feed them long after the sloth rune has decayed.
“Besides, the runes cause a massive wave of sleep followed by low-level suppression to keep people under. You should be able to fight off its effect at least until you get outside.”
Eva flicked her finger, healing the cut at the same time, and said, “everyone’s gone nighty-night. Let’s get to work.”
Her master nodded and stepped into the building without another word.
For a moment, Eva watched his step, trying to see if he was using the mere ‘rudimentary teleport’ that Zoe Baxter had called her steps or something more. She had never seen him use any sort of long distance teleport that the woman had implied was possible. Perhaps even what she did when she left the alley after their first meeting.
She shook her head and almost stepped into the building when a voice cleared behind her. Turning to find Arachne behind her, Eva wondered when the spider-woman detached herself from her side.
“You two go on ahead,” Arachne said. “I can’t do your step thing and I am not going to Hell to pass a few inches of glass.”
“It’s alright to be scared,” Eva said in her most condescending voice. “Keep an ear out and if there is trouble, you can employ the ‘smash’ step of my master’s illustrious plan.”
Without waiting for a response, Eva followed her master through the glass.
“Second shift comes on at midnight and finishes at eight. We need to be done before they start.”
“Three hours then? Shouldn’t we have waited for the second shift?”